Tuesday, September 24, 2024

David Guzik commentary on Revelation 4

"The bottom line of atheism or materialism is that there is no throne, there is no seat of authority or power that the entire universe must answer to. The bottom line of humanism is that there is a throne, but man sits upon it"

"... if man de-thrones God, he will inescapably place himself or some other man upon the throne ..."

"We can’t think rightly about much of anything until we settle in our mind that there is an occupied throne in heaven, and the God of the Bible rules from the throne."

"As John described the occupant of the throne, he did not describe a distinct figure. 'There is here no description of the Divine Being, so as to point out any similitude, shape, or dimensions. The description rather aims to point out the surrounding glory and effulgence than the person of the almighty King.'"

"A throne says, 'I can do whatever I want, because I rule.' A promise says, 'I will fulfill this word to you, and I cannot do otherwise.' ... A rainbow around the throne is a remarkable thing, showing that God will always limit Himself by His own promises."

"All failure to truly worship is rooted in a lack of seeing and understanding"

"The way these super-intelligent beings worship God reminds us that our worship must be intelligent."

"Our service must not be rash but reasonable"

"The crowns mentioned in Revelation 4:10 are the stephanos crowns, the crowns of victory, not royalty."

"The twenty-four elders – representing all the redeemed of God – threw every achievement reward they had back to God" 

"There are no divided opinions in heaven, no sects and parties, no schisms there. They are all in perfect harmony and sweet accord."

"As fellow Christians, let us get rid of everything that would divide us from each other, or separate us from our Lord. I do not read that there was a single elder who envied his brother’s crown" 

"The fact that God is Creator gives Him all right and every claim over everything – even as a potter has all rights and claims over the clay"

"we should plan ahead for that great day. 'If you and I should walk into some great cathedral where they were singing, and ask to be allowed to sing in the choir, they would ask whether we had ever learnt the tune, and they would not let us join unless we had. Nor can we expect that untrained voices should be admitted into the choirs above. Now, dear brothers and sisters, have you learnt to cast your crowns at the Savior’s feet already?” (Charles Spurgeon)

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